


Movie Night

by ralf



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec trying to be nice, Character Development, Developing Friendships, F/M, Gen, Humor, M/M, MCU Reference, Star Wars References, non-verbal communication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 21:04:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13796334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ralf/pseuds/ralf
Summary: Alec is standing suspiciously casually across from her room, as if he'd been about to knock on her door but had instead taken a few steps back when he'd heard her approach. He's acting shifty, his eyes darting around and there's a distinct tension to his shoulders. Something is definitely up.





	Movie Night

 

 

Giving her hair one last brush Clary checks over her appearance in the mirror before heading to the door of her room. She plans to go to the Ops Center to see when her next patrol is scheduled, but she stops short after stepping out into the hallway.

Alec is standing suspiciously casually across from her room, as if he'd been about to knock on her door but had instead taken a few steps back when he'd heard her approach. He's acting shifty, his eyes darting around and there's a distinct tension to his shoulders. Something is definitely up.

Clary puts on her best smile. “Can I help you with something?”

Alec scowls so she's right and he's also not that thrilled about whatever it is he wants from her. It can't be Shadowhunter business then, because as the Head of the Institute Alec is her superior and could simply order her to do it. A fact Alec enjoys very much. She thinks. It's not like Alec is in the habit of showing any form of enjoyment he might feel.

Since Alec doesn't seem to be forthcoming with information anytime soon she asks, “What's the matter?”

Alec's scowl intensifies but he also answers with actual words. Clary counts it as a win.

“The vam- _Simon_ keeps talking my ears off about some space movie he saw.”

“He's annoying you?” Clary concludes.

She's surprised. Alec doesn't really strike her as a guy who goes to someone's friends to complain about them, especially because Alec has shown no reservations in the past about addressing it if someone was getting on his nerves. Alec's brow furrows further though, so she's probably wrong.

It's her turn to frown. What else could Alec mean? She belatedly notices that Alec actually called Simon by his name, which, for Alec, constitutes as a valid effort to be nice. She still vividly remembers when she was 'the mundane' or 'the little girl' to him, oh the good old times. Okay, focus. Alec, trying to be nice, commenting on the new Star Wars movie Simon hasn't shut up about in weeks.

Her mouth falls open as realization hits her. “Oh, you want _to go watch that movie_?”

Alec rolls his eyes and looks disinterestedly down the hall which means yes.

Clary honestly never thought she'd see the day Alec not only wanted to do something entirely for fun, but also sought _her_ out to... to what exactly?

She fixes him curiously. “And how can I help you with that?”

Alec shuffles his feet awkwardly. “I've been talking to Magnus, about some stuff. And..”

Clary sees the exact moment he switches into soldier mode: his whole stance straightens, determination fills his eyes and he meets her gaze heads on. “I'm sorry for how I treated you. I'm not sorry for the decisions I made, I stand by them and would probably make them all over again.. but I could have been a little less rude. You were having a hard time and I didn't make it easier for you.”

Clary smiles. That was very Alec, but it's exactly this honesty she can appreciate. If he'd apologized for everything he'd ever done she couldn't have believed it, but there's no doubt in her mind that _this_ is sincere. And since she's the more empathetic of the two of them (she'd say she's the bigger person but, well) she can cut Alec some slack. Back when they first met he was closeted and miserable and not in the best or most considerate frame of mind. It's nice to see them all changing for the better.

Any more reminiscing will have to wait though, because Alec is still peering down at her intently, so she's supposed to make a connection between his apology and his planned cinema visit. She frowns, thinking hard, and suddenly it clicks.

“Oh! You want to invite me to go with you?”

Alec nods.

The notion is so absurd that she can't fight the involuntary smile breaking out on her face. She pictures Alec in full hunting gear, his bow in hand and quiver over his shoulder, standing in line for snacks. It's surreal and a giggle almost escapes her.

If Alec knew that what he's proposing is the go-to for a first date in the Mundane World he'd probably run away screaming, and for a moment Clary is severely tempted. But she _is_ the bigger person (at least in some respect, dammit!) and so she resists. She doesn't want to scare Alec away and have him reverting to his usual impersonal self. It could be nice, even, to have a civil relationship to her boyfriend's parabatai.

And so she just nods and smiles, and they agree on Tuesday night.

 

~ ~ ~

 

Going to the movies with Alec turns out to be a quite pleasant experience. He actually insists on paying for her movie ticket (he glares her into submission when she tries to protest and she has do admit – only in the privacy of her mind of course – that Alec can still be very intimidating when he wants to be). But he rolls his eyes when she buys nachos with cheese and doesn't treat her to them, too (pity, really).

He doesn't say a word during the entire movie and seems pretty engrossed in the proceedings on the screen when she sneaks a sideways glance at him.

When they walk back to the Institute it's easier then expected to draw him into a conversation about what they just saw, even if Alec is more interested in pointing out the 'gravely lacking combat skills' of the actors than discussing the romantic subplot.

At the end of the day (literally) it was a nice evening, nicer than Clary thought possible to pass with only Alec for company. She thinks that, given some time and effort, she could really befriend him. She can't deny that Alec is starting to grow on her, and she reckons her chances of growing on him aren't too bad, either.

 

~ ~ ~

 

They are all out at the hunter's moon, squeezed around a table. It's a little less cramped than normally, because Izzy has decided to challenge every one of them to a pool game. She's spend the entire evening at the back of the bar while they take turns against her, only visiting their table to catch up on drinks and regale them with the embellished version of her latest victory. Right now she's up against Magnus, and it seems to be quite the intense game, if their glinting eyes and matching competitive grins are anything to go by.

Clary was the first one challenged and lost spectacularly, which may or may not have had something to do with the saucy winks and heated looks Jace kept shooting her. She'd accuse him of collaborating with Izzy, but apparently all three Lightwood siblings have a longstanding history of playing pool, so it's no wonder she got her ass handed to her.

The only thing more entertaining than following their game is watching Alec moon over Magnus from across the room. It's a little endearing, Clary has to admit. Happiness is a good look on him.

She's shaken out of her thoughts when Simon asks her if she finally came around to watching _The Last Jedi_ so they can discuss all the details and fan theories and she distractedly answers, “Yeah, actually I watched it with Alec last week.”

There's a beat of silence, and then Simon turns to Alec accusingly. “What?? You went with Clary, but not with me? I invited you along more than two weeks ago!”

Alec blinks, his pining after Magnus rudely interrupted, and stares at Simon with a mixture of confusion and distaste.

“He probably declined because he's not entirely stupid,” Maia comments. “If you care to remember, Simon, that was our date night. If Alec had accepted, I would have maimed him.”

Alec's lips twitch in amusement when Maia smiles at him saccharinely, showing off too much teeth.

“But it's Star Wars,” Simon argues. “You could bear having one date crashed if it means converting someone to watch Star Wars!”

Maia rolls her eyes fondly and starts to emphasize that _nothing_ is worth getting a date crashed by Alec, but Clary's attention is pulled to Jace, who's watching her curiously before turning to Alec. “You took Clary out to see a movie?” he asks, sounding a little bemused.

Alec visibly flounders for an answer while Clary is taken aback. She had naturally assumed that Jace knew about this. She hadn't bothered to tell him because she had been sure that _Alec_ already had. The fact that he didn't makes her smile, because it means Alec really only did it in a genuine effort to be nice. Not for show for Jace, not even a little. He's really trying to make amends. In this case, as much as she may enjoy watching Alec stumbling over his words for a change, she can help him out. “I dragged him along,” she says.

Jace's gaze snaps from Alec to her, fixing her confusedly for a moment, then back to Alec. “Wait, really? I couldn't get you to go watch that movie with Izzy and me, but Clary could?”

Clary takes the opportunity that Jace isn't looking at her to wink at Alec. Alec smiles back, almost unnoticeably, then turns to Jace with a deliberately bad poker face. “Sure,” he says flatly, with no inflection whatsoever.

Jace's confusion grows. “You're kidding me, right? That was all a joke to get a rise out of Simon, wasn't it? You two didn't really go to the cinema.”

Alec just shrugs, expression completely blank.

Jace turns back to Clary, brow creased alarmingly, seeking help “ _Did_ you?”

Over Jace's shoulder she sees Alec smirk and she laughs.

 

~ ~ ~

 

Magnus picks up his phone, frowning. It's a bit early for Raphael to be calling him.

“Is there a problem?” he asks tensely.

“No, but there might be if you don't remind me again why it's not a good idea to kill the fledgeling,” Raphael's annoyed voice crackles through the line.

Magnus snorts in amusement, his concern instantly washed away. “Well, if he violated a law...”

Raphael gives a deep sigh. “Unfortunately he didn't.. although I _should_ establish a law about how it's forbidden to get on my nerves.”

There's an outraged sound, presumably from Simon, and Magnus suppresses a laugh at the realization that Raphael called him with Simon still in the room and probably still in conversation with him, to complain about just that.

“What's he been doing?”

Raphael huffs. “He's been whining non-stop about the unfairness of his existence because he wasn't invited along for the trip to the theater this evening.” There's a shuffle and then Simon cries indignantly into the speaker, “An outing exclusively for shadowhunters and werewolves, no significant others permitted! Who does that? Those rules were designed to exclude me!”

“Who said that?” Magnus inquires.

“Your boyfriend,” Raphael answers, accompanied by another lament from Simon how he'd been planning to watch _Black Panther_ with Maia for weeks.

Magnus smirks. Alec would.

Still, he feels a little sorry for Simon and so, before he can think it through, he says, “Come over after sundown for some drinks, and I'll arrange a live connection to the nearest cinema. What do you say?”

Raphael hesitates because socializing is not on his agenda on any given day but Simon already gave a shout of excitement. Magnus _hears_ Raphael roll his eyes at that but he also knows Raphael won't have the heart to decline now.

Magnus smiles. “I'll see you in,” he glances at the deep blue hues of the evening sky, “twenty.”

He hangs up before Raphael can get in a token protest and summons some popcorn with a smile.

 

 

If Alec had known that being nice to Clary would ultimately lead to him having to spend an entire night watching movies with Simon after returning from the cinema.. he probably would have reconsidered.

 


End file.
